Vl-veterans · coast guard mk
Coast Guard MK — Machinery Technician, translated
Crosswalk data: O*NET/DMDC extract milx0724 (July 2024 DMDC extract; ZIP last-modified per O*NET Sep 2025) · current as of the edition shown.
What the official crosswalk says
The Department of Defense and the Department of Labor maintain a crosswalk from every military occupation to the civilian occupational system (O*NET). For Coast Guard MK — Machinery Technician — it maps to:
- Ship Engineers (SOC 53-5031.00)
Say it in civilian
On a resume or in an interview, don't lead with "MK" — civilian screeners don't know the code. Lead with the work: "Machinery Technician" maps to Ship Engineers in the Department of Labor's system. Describe the job in those terms, then back it with specifics only you can supply.
Putting it on a resume
- Civilian title first, the code in parentheses: "Ship Engineers (Coast Guard MK)" reads; the reverse gets skipped.
- Quantify with real numbers you can back up in an interview — people led, equipment value, tempo. Real numbers you can defend beat impressive ones you can't.
- Strip the acronyms. If your spouse's friends wouldn't know the term, the recruiter won't either.
- Keep it unclassified — describe your work the way you would in a public job interview.
The free Skill Translator does this for any MOS, AFSC, or rating — job titles, transferable skills, and resume bullets, from the same official crosswalk. Nothing you type is stored.
Open the tool →Check the tool’s job titles and bullets against what you did before they go on a résumé; Lesson 5 shows how.
Open Lesson 5More: → Veteran benefits by state · → True Salary Calculator
Source: O*NET Military Occupational Classification crosswalk (DMDC extract milx0724 (July 2024 DMDC extract; ZIP last-modified per O*NET Sep 2025)), U.S. Department of Labor / ETA, CC BY 4.0.
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